The least seed oil Lent
Plain fish is one of the lowest seed oil foods there is. The fish sandwich is a different story, because the coating and the fryer oil add most of the number. Know the gap, then pick the Friday order that suits you.
Lent runs from Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027, to Easter Sunday, March 28, 2027 (date source). New to seed oils? Start with what they are, then come back.
One Friday fish fry, two ways
One serving of each:
- Fried fish fillet, 1 fillet
- French fries, 1 medium serving
- Hush puppies, 4 pieces
- Coleslaw, 1 cup
Our estimates: each dish from the table the app's Cook at home screen uses, once with a vegetable oil blend and once with a better fat for that dish.
Where the seed oil hides on a fish Friday
| Dish | Serving | With a vegetable oil blend | With a better fat | Where it hides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fried fish fillet | 1 fillet | 11.0 g | 3.0 g (lard or tallow) | the fryer oil |
| Fish and chips | 1 plate | 21.0 g | 5.0 g (lard or tallow) | the fryer oil, for the fish and the chips |
| Hush puppies | 4 pieces | 10.8 g | 2.8 g (lard or tallow) | the fryer oil |
| Fish tacos | 2 tacos | 7.5 g | 3.5 g (olive oil) | the pan oil and the sauce |
| Shrimp scampi | 1 plate | 6.5 g | 1.7 g (butter) | the pan fat |
| Baked salmon | 1 fillet | 10.5 g | 8.1 g (butter) | the fish itself, plus a little pan fat |
| Clam chowder | 1 cup | 3.3 g | 0.9 g (butter) | the fat the soup base starts with |
| Spaghetti with marinara | 1.5 cups | 2.9 g | 0.9 g (olive oil) | the oil the sauce starts in |
| Eggplant parmesan | 1 piece | 11.0 g | 3.0 g (olive oil) | the oil the eggplant is fried in |
| Pierogi | 6 pierogi | 6.0 g | 1.2 g (butter) | the fat they are fried in |
| Mac and cheese | 1 cup | 3.1 g | 0.7 g (butter) | margarine in the sauce |
| Grilled cheese | 1 sandwich | 5.3 g | 1.7 g (butter) | margarine or oil on the bread |
| Coleslaw | 1 cup | 7.8 g | 1.8 g (olive oil) | the mayonnaise dressing |
| French fries | 1 medium serving | 12.8 g | 2.8 g (lard or tallow) | the fryer oil |
Our estimates, worked the way the app's Cook at home screen works them. The better fat is named in brackets. Baked salmon is mostly the fish itself, so its two numbers are close.
Plain fish and the sauces that go with it
Plain fish and its sauces are easy to read: these are USDA measurements (per three ounces of fish, per tablespoon of sauce) and printed labels from our grocery data.
- Shrimp, plain, 3 oz (85g): 0.0 gUSDA
- Haddock, plain, 3 oz (85g): 0.1 gUSDA
- Alaska pollock, plain, 3 oz (85g): 0.5 gUSDA
- Atlantic cod, plain, 3 oz (85g): 0.7 gUSDA
- Light tuna, 3 oz (85g): 2.5 gUSDA
- Atlantic salmon, plain, 3 oz (85g): 3.9 gUSDA
- Tartar sauce, 1 tbsp: 1.4 gUSDA
- Mayonnaise, 1 tbsp: 6.9 gUSDA
- Mayonnaise made with olive oil, 1 tbsp: 0.5 gUSDA
- Butter, 1 tbsp: 0.5 gUSDA
- Soft margarine (80% vegetable oil), 1 Tbsp (14 g): 6.0 gFrom the label
The fish is rarely the problem: cod is 0.7 g, pollock 0.5 g and haddock 0.1 g for three ounces. At McDonald's the Filet-O-Fish is 9.8 g, so the gap is the coating, the sauce and the fryer oil.
Salmon and tuna carry more on their own (3.9 g for Atlantic salmon, 2.5 g for light tuna). That is the fish's own fat, not a cooking oil.
Tartar sauce is 1.4 g a tablespoon, against 6.9 g for mayonnaise and 0.5 g for one made with olive oil.
Fish sandwiches and fish fries at the chains
Grams come from each chain's own nutrition guide, one order each. Menus and what is on them for Lent change by location, so check the menu before you go.
A fish fry is only as light as its fryer
Fried fish takes up the oil it is cooked in. Beef tallow is about 5% polyunsaturated, butter about 5%, olive oil about 12% and peanut oil about 33%. Canola is about 32%, soybean oil about 60% and an unnamed vegetable oil blend about 58%.
At home, a fried fish fillet comes to 11.0 g in a vegetable oil blend and 3.0 g in tallow (our estimate). Compare more oils on the oil comparison, or check one in is it a seed oil.
Five easy Friday swaps
- Pick the grilled order when there is one. At Long John Silver's grilled shrimp is 0.1 g and the fish sandwich is 9.0 g.
- Pick one piece of fish over a dinner. At Culver's the cod sandwich is 20.2 g and the three piece cod dinner is 40.4 g.
- Go easy on the sauce: tartar is 1.4 g a tablespoon and mayonnaise 6.9 g. Lemon is free.
- Fry at home in tallow or butter: a fillet is 3.0 g against 11.0 g in a vegetable oil blend (our estimate).
- Meatless does not have to mean fried. Spaghetti with marinara comes to 2.9 g in a vegetable oil blend and 0.9 g with olive oil (our estimate).
Keep going after Lent: Half by February
Lent is a good time to learn where the number comes from. The four week plan to cut your seed oil in half is in the app every January. See the plan.
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Common questions
Is fish high in seed oil?
Plain fish is not. Atlantic cod is 0.7 g for three ounces by the USDA numbers. A fried fish sandwich is a different order: the Filet-O-Fish is 9.8 g from McDonald's own nutrition guide. See what counts as a seed oil.
Is salmon a seed oil problem?
No. The polyunsaturated fat in plain salmon (3.9 g for three ounces of Atlantic salmon) is the fish's own fat, not a cooking oil. Check any oil.
When is Lent in 2027?
Ash Wednesday is February 10, 2027 and Easter Sunday is March 28, 2027.
Does the app cost anything?
The tracker is free. You can download Seed Oil Tracker for free, and logging your meals, the restaurant report cards, the order builder, the barcode scanner and your goal plan all stay free. Premium is optional. It adds a few extras and helps support the project.
More guides
Seed Oil Tracker doesn't tell you what to eat. It shows you the grams so you can pick your own number. Curious about the research? Read the studies on both sides.